Sales in the small sports segment collapse by 55.6% to 7,807 in the fourth quarter of 2017, leading to the highest-among-all-segments year-on-year sales decline in 2017 of 36.9%. Such a decline brought the total sales in 2017 down to 45,911, the lowest level since 2010. What is troubling is that while volatile, sales in this segment usually don’t go [Read more…]

Sales of new Lincoln Navigator soar in the fourth quarter as segment grows slowly

Sales in the premium full-size SUV segment fell by 7.0% to 34,507 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 rose by 2.5% to 126,559. The segment remains slightly ahead of the premium compact SUV segment, but with the latter growing at double-digit rates it seems likely it will become the smallest among the premium SUV sectors [Read more…]

Sales in the premium large SUV segment rose by 3.8% to 151,720 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 rose by 1.6% to 518,902. As a result, this remains the largest from amongst all premium SUV segments, though the but the lead it has to the premium mid-sized SUV segment continues to shrink. Moreover, this gap is likely to [Read more…]

Jaguar F-Pace and Range Rover Velar star, sales of Alfa Romeo Stelvio, as segment grows by almost 10% in 2017

Sales in the premium mid-sized SUV segment rose by 7.2% to 130,824 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 rose by 9.4% to 464,373. Such robust growth over the course of 2017 allowed the segment to close the gap to the premium large SUV segment, which is still the largest from among premium SUV segments at 518,902 [Read more…]

New Infiniti QX30 and second-generation BMW X1, Mini Countryman help make this the fastest-growing segment

Sales in the US premium compact SUV segment rose by 6.4% to 31,966 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 rose by 18.2% to 116,507. Given that the segment had grown by double-digits in the first three quarters the performance in the fourth quarter can be viewed as something of a disappointment, but it still leaves [Read more…]

Sales in the US limousine segment fell by 15.3% to 16,363 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 fell by 8.2% to 59,308. Although the loss in sales was not very large, and the segments still managed to maintain sales above the depths to which it plunged at the height of the recession in 2009, the performance suggests that the [Read more…]

Segment slide continues as new models such as BMW 5-series and Volvo S90 see their sales grow quickly

Sales in the US premium large segment fell by 2.4% to 79,062 in the fourth quarter of 2017, while overall sales in 2017 fell by 9.9% to 286,030. However, despite the appearance and reputation of a staid segment slowly shrinking under the onslaught of SUVs, there is in fact a lot of action going on in the segment, with new models such as BMW 5-series, Mercedes-Benz E-class and Volvo S90 gaining substantial sales at the expense of older models. In 2018 the segment is likely to continue on this path, with the new Audi A6/A7 and Mercedes-Benz CLS joining the fray.

Sales in the US premium mid-sized segment fell by 7.9% to 116,607 in the fourth quarter of 2017, combining with the double-digit sales decline from Q3’17 to drag total sales in 2017 down by 3.1% to 446,534. Still, this made it the best (OK, least bad) performing from among non-SUV premium segments, thanks in large part to new metal hitting [Read more…]

Segment loses more sales than any other bar the small sports segment, with only Infiniti QX30 seeing sales rise

Sales in the US premium compact segment fell by 27.5% to 19,531 in the fourth quarter of 2017, pretty much in line with the segment’s form in 2017, when sales fell overall by 25.9% to 86,495. Such a decline made this the second-fastest shrinking segment in the US in 2017, behind only the sports small segment, which experienced a [Read more…]

Decline in the final quarter pushes segment into a loss in 2017, despite Nissan Armada’s surging popularity

Sales in the US large SUV segment fell by 6.9% to 102,710 in the fourth quarter of 2017, pushing the segment to an overall loss in 2017, with sales falling by 0.5% to 342,525. While this represents only a small fall on the 344,235 cars sold in 2016, itself an eight-year high, it is useful to keep in mind that this is less than half the number of cars sold [Read more…]